Family Secrets
by lakergirl4life
Summary: Every family has secrets and sometimes ignorance is bliss. Milo. Lulu. Milu.
1. Chapter 1

Part I

Milo walked in his apartment and tossed his keys on the coffee table, taking off his suit jacket. He'd had a really long day and all he wanted to do was take a shower, grab a quick dinner and go to bed. Maybe he'd call Lulu and see if she wanted to come over tomorrow for lunch, since she didn't have class. He loosened his tie and tossed it on the couch then opened his bedroom door and turned on the light. "Lulu?" Milo asked. "What's wrong?"

Lulu looked over at Milo with a tear stained face, "I - I used my key, is that okay?" Lulu quietly asked. Milo had given her a key about a month ago, but she hadn't used it yet. Their relationship was pretty serious, they'd been dating for almost six months. And today when her world bottomed out, her first thought was that she had to find him. She wasn't sure where to go, she had nowhere to go. She couldn't go to the mansion and she didn't want to go home, the only place she had to go was here. She started to stand up and Milo was immediately in front of her, kneeling on the floor.

"Yeah," Milo said. "I gave it to you so you could come over whenever." Milo reached for Lulu's hands, "What's wrong?" He'd never seen Lulu this upset before and she was starting to scare him.

"My dad - he, he - he - " Lulu paused and fresh tears started streaming down her face. As much as she didn't want to admit it, it was true. Not saying it didn't make it any less true. She'd have to say it, to say the ugly word. "He raped my mom."

"He what?" Milo asked. Lulu had spoken so softly he wasn't sure he'd heard her right.

Lulu started crying harder, "He raped her," Lulu sobbed and started shaking.

"I"ll kill him," Milo said. What the hell was Luke's problem? Taking advantage of Laura like that, she was in a catatonic state. "How is she? Is she okay? Is she at the hospital? Is - "

Lulu looked down at Milo as if she were in a fog. It took a moment for his words to register. "What?" Lulu asked, her mom was in Shadybrook - that hadn't changed. "Oh - " Lulu paused, understanding what Milo meant. "Not now." Lulu closed her eyes for a few seconds. "Oh God no, not now. A long time ago - when they were younger. When she was still married to Scott Baldwin."

"Baby," Milo whispered and pulled Lulu on the floor, into his arms. He gently kissed her forehead and held her as she cried. He didn't know what to say to her, no words could make this better.

Lulu let Milo's arms wrap around her. Just his embrace assured her that something was right in the world, when everything else seemed wrong.

Milo gently ran his fingers through Lulu's hair, then brushed away her tears as her sobs subdued.

"My dad - he loves my mom, my mom - she loves my dad," Lulu whispered. She didn't doubt her parents' love for each other. She'd seen it while growing up, heard about it after her mom got sick and had seen it first hand a few months ago. But this? This wasn't love, this wasn't even close. It was violent, it was ugly, it was devastating - it was rape. Lulu felt the bile rise in her throat and she jumped up and ran to the bathroom and started throwing up.

Milo followed her into the bathroom, making a quick stop in the kitchen to grab a glass. He turned on the faucet and filled the glass with water and wet a washcloth. He knelt next to her and pushed back her hair as he gently wiped her face. "I don't know what to say," Milo quietly said and handed Lulu a glass of water and flushed the toilet.

She drank it in big gulps and started choking. As Lulu tried to catch her breath, she dropped the glass and as soon as it made contact with the floor it shattered, much like her life. Lulu jumped back and Milo hugged her tighter. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't - "

"Shh," Milo whispered and tenderly kissed her forehead. "I don't care about the glass, I care about you Lulu." Milo stood up and pulled Lulu to her feet, he'd clean the floor later. Milo led Lulu to the other bathroom so she could finish cleaning up.

"Give me a minute, okay?" Lulu asked. She needed a few minutes to get her head together.

Milo nodded and went back to his bedroom and sat down at the foot of the bed, undoing the top two buttons of his shirt. Milo sighed, he couldn't even begin to imagine what was going through her mind. The worst secret his parents had ever kept from him was that his mom had been pregnant with Max when his parents got married. As if finding out the truth wasn't painful enough, he knew that Lulu was also upset that this was kept from her.

Lulu sat down next to Milo, "How - I don't understand," Lulu said. "All my life, I've heard about this great love, I've seen it - the love my father had for my mother and now, now I find out that he raped her? How could he do that to someone? How could she love him?" Lulu started crying again. Her entire life was built on a lie.

"I don't know," Milo honestly said, wrapping his arm Lulu. He wasn't sure how he could explain something to Lulu that he didn't understand himself. He barely knew her father, he'd never met her mother. He didn't know them, he didn't know the circumstances, but rape - rape was rape. No matter how anyone tried to spin it, you couldn't put a spin story on rape. The thought of it made him sick. He couldn't think about touching a woman like that, about disrespecting a woman like that. He couldn't wrap his mind around it. "Do you want to talk about this now or later?"

Lulu sighed, if she had one wish it would be that she'd never found out about this. Not talking about it wasn't going to make it untrue. "Now, I guess. I don't even know how your day was or how you're doing, I just - "

"I'm okay," Milo said. "Tired, but I'm okay. I'm more concerned about you." Milo brushed Lulu's hair back from her face as she looked up at him.

"You can't make it go away can you?" Lulu softly asked.

"No," Milo whispered, hating that he couldn't make it all go away. "Have you talked to your dad?"

"No - I, I don't want to see him," Lulu said. She wasn't sure if or when she'd ever be able to look at him the same, knowing what he did. "Not now - maybe not ever."

"Lulu - "

"Milo, he raped her. He raped her! She was my age! Then she turned around and married him! What if someone raped me - "

"Don't say that," Milo said. "Don't even think about that." He didn't want Lulu to even mention that possibility, not even in a hypothetical situation.

"And then I married him!" Lulu said. She didn't know what was more disturbing, that her father raped her mother or that her mother married her rapist.

"I don't know - I don't know what the circumstances were - "

"Circumstances! He raped her!" Lulu shouted.

"I know baby," Milo whispered.

"Everyone knows!" Lulu said. She hated that everyone seemed to know this - everyone but her. They were her parents, she deserved to know - someone should've told her. Obviously not her mom and she doubted her dad would've told her. But Lucky - he should've told her. "Everyone knows." She scooted further back on the bed and laid face down, hugging a pillow.

"How did you find out?" Milo asked and went to sit at the head of the bed. Now that Lulu had gotten out her emotional reaction out, he knew she was ready to talk. "Did someone tell you?" He motioned for Lulu to move over.

Lulu lifted her head and rested it in Milo's lap, "I was at Nikolas' earlier, then I went to Kelly's," Lulu said. "I couldn't find my phone and thought I left it on the launch or at Wyndemere so I went back to the docks and I overheard my dad arguing with Scott Baldwin."

_"You don't have Laura's best interests in mind," Scott said. "You're always looking out for yourself. You did it then and you're doing it now."_

_"Watch it," Luke said._

_"Laura lost her mind because of you," Scott said. "In fact, every bad thing that has ever happened to her can be traced back to you."_

_"As usual, you don't know what you're talking about," Luke said. "Laura is my wife - "_

_"I think Tracy would disagree with that," Scott said._

_"Nikolas is in charge of Laura's care," Luke said._

_"With input from you!" Scott said. "I should be the one in charge of her medical care. I'm the only person with her best interests in mind."_

_"She hasn't been married to you for over twenty-five years," Luke said. "She was married to me for most of those years - "_

_"Yeah, well, we'll never know how things would've turned out if you hadn't raped my wife!" Scott said. "I couldn't protect Laura from you then, but I can protect her from you now."_

_"You should stay out of things that don't concern you," Luke said._

"Scott accused my dad of raping my mom," Lulu said. "And my dad didn't deny it. He told him to stay out of it. Then Scott told him it was only a matter of time before I found about it and that Lucky already knew." Lulu started crying again and Milo brushed the tears from her face. "I must've made a noise or dropped something, because they turned around and they saw me and I ran." Her father called after her but she ran straight here. "I left my car - it probably got towed."

Milo wanted to tell Lulu it would be okay, but he wasn't sure it would be and he didn't want to lie to her.

Lulu sat up and wrapped her arms around Milo's neck. "I can't think about this anymore," Lulu whispered.

"Okay, we won't talk about it until you're ready," Milo said.

Lulu pulled back from Milo's embrace and brushed her lips over his, "Do we have to talk?" Lulu asked and kissed Milo again.

Milo closed his eyes as Lulu kissed him and groaned when she started pulling at his shirt. Milo opened his eyes and gently gripped her wrists, "Hey," Milo softly said and brushed her hair out of her face.

"I love you," Lulu whispered. "I don't want to think about - " Lulu paused and shook her head. "I don't want to think about anything other than you." Lulu kissed Milo again. She wanted to feel normal, to feel safe and Milo was the only person that could make her feel that way.

Milo kissed Lulu, "I love you too," Milo whispered. He'd make this okay for her, he couldn't make it go away - but for tonight, tonight he could.

* * *

Milo woke up and glanced at the clock, it was a little after one - he was supposed to be at the Greystone at 6. He'd have to get someone to cover for him. Milo gently ran his hand over Lulu's back and she murmured his name in her sleep. He carefully eased out from underneath her and got out of bed.

"Milo?" Lulu sleepily asked.

"Shh, go back to sleep," Milo said. "I just have to make a few calls, I'll be right back."

Lulu mumbled something unintelligible and reached for his pillow and went back to sleep.

Milo grabbed a pair of sweat pants from the dresser and slipped them on before heading into the living room. Milo shook his head and called his brother.

"Yeah," Max said.

"Hey," Milo said. "I know it's short notice but can you cover my shift tomorrow at the Greystone?"

Max groaned as he looked at the clock, "You better have a good excuse little brother," Max said. Tomorrow was his day off and he'd been looking forward to relaxing.

"Lulu just found out her dad raped her mom when she was her age," Milo quietly said.

"What?" Max asked.

"Yeah," Milo said. "You heard me right."

"Consider it done," Max said. "How she doing?" Lulu was going to have a rough time coming to terms with this, she idolized her father and to find out something like this - it could destroy her.

"Better now," Milo said. "It's starting to sink in, she's asleep." Right now, he wasn't sure if Lulu was more hurt because of what happened or because no one had told her.

"Where's Luke?" Max asked.

"No clue," Milo said.

"Want me to find him?" Max asked.

"No," Milo said. "When she's ready, she'll talk to him."

"Anything else I can do?" Max asked.

"Can you send someone to the impound lot and see if her car is there?" Milo asked. "She left it - somewhere, she probably parked by Kelly's." Milo wandered into the kitchen and started making a sandwich. He just remembered he'd never gotten around to having dinner. Milo turned when he heard someone knocking on the door, "Where are you?"

"Home," Max said.

"Hey, someone's at the door. I'll call you later," Milo said. "Thanks."

"Anytime," Max said and hung up.

Milo walked to the door and looked out the peephole, groaning when he saw Luke.

"Open the door," Luke said.

Milo reluctantly opened the door and stepped outside, "You shouldn't be here," Milo said.

"Listen, I - "

"I don't care what you want," Milo said. "You shouldn't be here. Your daughter doesn't want to see you. She's had a rough night and she's asleep and I'm not waking her so you can make her see your side of things." Lulu was definitely capable of making her own decisions, but she told him she didn't want to see her father. Until she said otherwise, he was going to make sure that Luke stayed as far away from Lulu as she wanted. He'd even take her out of town for the weekend if that's what she wanted.

"She tell you?" Luke asked, sizing up the young man in front of him. He hadn't had any unpleasant run-ins with Lulu's spud, but Milo looked like he would rip his head off if he set foot inside his apartment.

"Yes," Milo said. "She doesn't want you here - leave before I make you."

Luke stared at Milo and saw the determined look in his eyes, "You're serious," Luke said. "You think I'd hurt her?"

"You've already hurt her," Milo said. Sometimes people kept secrets to protect those they loved, but when those secrets were out in the open - a lot of people got hurt, and right now Lulu was hurting.

"She doesn't understand, I - "

"You don't have to explain things to me, you need to explain them to Lulu. But she doesn't want to talk to you tonight," Milo said. He wasn't sure when Lulu would want to hash things out with her dad and he wasn't going to force her to have a conversation she didn't want to have.

"I have to make her understand. That night - " Luke paused and shook his head. "Laura forgave me, I - "

"Look, I don't know Lulu's mom. Everyone says that she's like her, that she looks like her that she's got her spirit and maybe she does. I don't know," Milo said. "But I know your daughter and she's strong and if she's anything like her mother, if her mother could forgive you then she probably will. It's just going to take time and you're going to have to wait for her to come to you." Milo went back inside and locked the door behind him before Luke had a chance to respond. His appetite gone, Milo shut off the kitchen light and headed back to bed.

"Milo?" Lulu asked.

"I'm right here baby," Milo whispered and slid in bed next to Lulu after slipping off his sweat pants. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her shoulder. "I love you."

"You're cold," Lulu said as soon as Milo's skin came into contact with hers. "Where'd you go?"

"Outside for a minute," Milo said. He'd tell Lulu about Luke stopping by in the morning. He should tell her now, but he wanted her to get some rest and if he brought up her dad there was no guarantee she would.

Lulu turned around so she was facing Milo, "Promise me something," Lulu said.

"Anything," Milo said.

"Promise me - promise me that you'll never keep something this big from me. That if you find something out or if you do something or if something happens, don't protect me from the truth. Tell me," Lulu said.

"I will," Milo promised, bringing his hand to Lulu's face. "Promise me the same thing, okay?"

Lulu nodded, "I promise," Lulu whispered and softly kissed Milo. Lulu's kisses quickly became more urgent, desperate almost as she got as close to Milo as she could. Lulu pulled back when she couldn't breathe and smiled at Milo, "You shouldn't have gotten dressed again."

"I can change that," Milo said and rolled them over so he was leaning over her.


	2. Chapter 2

Part II

Lulu sat on the docks waiting for her father. It had been one month since she found out about the rape and she hadn't seen her father since that night. Milo had told her that he warned her dad to stay away and strangely her dad actually listened. She tried to avoid him at all costs, but they lived in a small town and occasionally they crossed paths. Technically, she'd moved into Carly's but she spent practically every night at Milo's. She had gone to the mansion once and that was just to get clothes. She spent all her time in one of three places, campus, Carly's or Milo's. Her father had to come through here sooner or later, she just had to be patient and wait. Only there was one problem - she wasn't very good at being patient. Lulu heard someone walking along the pier and then nothing. She turned her head and looked at her father, "Hi," Lulu said.

"Gumdrop," Luke cautiously said. This was the first time that Lulu had spoken to him since she'd seen him and Baldwin on the docks. They'd run into each other a few times but she'd always walked away from him without saying a word. He wanted to talk to her, to make her understand but he also knew he couldn't push her - not about this, especially not about this.

"You haven't been around," Lulu said. So maybe her dad wasn't the most hands on father, but if he was in town - he was around. She was surprised that he hadn't tried to talk to her or something. He lived life by his own rules and didn't really care what other people wanted or needed. What he did to her mother was proof of that.

"I thought that's what you wanted," Luke said. "That's what Bench Press - "

"His name is Milo," Lulu quietly said. She didn't appreciate her dad defining Milo solely on the fact that he liked to work out. He wasn't just a gym rat, he was a person. He was a good person, a much better man than her father.

"Okay," Luke said. Lulu was finally ready to talk to him and the last thing he wanted to do was alienate her by calling her boyfriend Bench Press. "Milo said you wanted me to stay away." Under normal circumstances he wouldn't allow some spud to run interference between him and his cupcake, but these were far from normal circumstances.

"I do - I did," Lulu said. "I - I just didn't think you'd actually listen to him."

"You needed your space," Luke said. Lucky had gone through the same thing when he found out about it and eventually he'd come around, just like Lulu would. She had to. He'd already lost Laura, he couldn't lose their daughter over something that couldn't be changed.

"Space," Lulu softly said. That was one way of putting it. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to understand that her father was a rapist and that her mother married her rapist. She couldn't deal with it, so she ignored it. She threw herself into her school work and avoided her dad at all costs. The great news was that she aced all her finals, the bad news was that she could only avoid him for so long. It was a small town and unless she wanted to move out of town she'd have to face him sooner or later. She decided it was going to be sooner and it was gong to be on her terms, not his. "How could you do it?"

"Lesley Lu - "

"You raped mom!" Lulu said and started crying. "And she married you! How could she do that?" She hoped she never had to endure anything like what her mother went through, surviving rape. But there was one thing she knew, that if she were ever raped she would never be able to forgive her rapist. She'd want him dead, there was no way in hell that she'd love him, much less marry him and start a family with him. "Were you ever planning on telling me?"

"You weren't supposed to find out," Luke said. He was perfect, he didn't try to pretend that he was. But there were some things he wished his children had never known about him. He didn't need the darkest moments of his life on display for others to judge, especially his children. They wouldn't understand, they couldn't. He wasn't sure he understood it himself, but Laura had forgiven him and that was all he needed. Now he hoped Lulu would forgive him as well.

"I had a right to know," Lulu said.

"No - no, you didn't," Luke said. "What happened - what happened all those years ago, it happened between your mother and me." He didn't want to go into the details of that night. It was a night that haunted him. He'd made many mistakes over the years, there were so many things he wanted to take back - but if he could he never would've gone to the Campus Disco that night. But thankfully Lulu wasn't asking for details, she wanted an explanation. He wasn't sure he could explain it.

"It affects me," Lulu said.

"How?" Luke asked. "Does you knowing change anything?"

"Yes," Lulu answered.

"What?" Luke asked. "What's so different today from two months ago?"

"How I feel about you," Lulu quietly said. She wasn't sure she'd ever understand how something so beautiful came out of something so ugly. Now she was starting to wonder if a perfect love actually existed. The one real example she had was her parents, but if this was how they started - they weren't as perfect as she thought. Lulu started to leave and paused when her father said her name.

"Lesley Lu, you don't have to like what I did - how your mother reacted to what I did, how we chose to deal with it. I don't expect you to understand it, but you have to accept it," Luke said and walked away.

As soon as Luke walked away, Lulu started crying and sat down again. She wasn't sure how long she was crying on the docks and she jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"It's me," Milo quietly said, immediately walking around the bench so he could sit next to her. "Hey, what happened?" He was on his way to Kelly's with Max when he noticed Lulu, sitting alone and crying.

"I talked to my dad," Lulu whispered.

Milo pulled Lulu into his arms and motioned for Max to leave the two of them alone. "Tell me what I can do," Milo quietly said, pulling back slightly so he could see Lulu's face.

"Get me out of here," Lulu said.

"Okay," Milo said.

* * *

Lulu looked around their suite before sitting down on the couch, "I just want to go to sleep and forget the past month ever happened," Lulu said. She was so emotionally drained from everything. She was so glad that Milo suggested the two of them getting away for a few days. He only had a few days off of work, so they went to New York City for the weekend. Maybe they could catch a play or a concert or something, that would be fun. But she didn't really care what they did. As long as he was with her, she didn't care if they had dinner at a five-star restaurant or grabbed something from a street vendor.

"Seriously?" Milo asked, setting their bags by the door. He sat on the coffee table across from Lulu. He knew that Lulu had been devastated to find out about her parents. As much as the truth hurt, he knew it was something she needed to know.

"No," Lulu said. "I guess not. You know, the saying - ignorance is bliss?" Milo nodded. "I guess, I never understood how much that was true until now."

Milo sighed, "I hate that you're going through this," Milo said. Lulu had more than enough of her share of pain over the past year.

Lulu shrugged, "It's not your fault," Lulu said. "You don't lie to me and it's not like you've done something horrible - " Lulu's voice trailed off and she laughed softly. "Well, nothing horrible that doesn't have to do with your job."

"Right," Milo said. "I still hate it though."

"You know, there is one good thing that came out of this," Lulu said.

"What's that?" Milo asked.

"I got to see you, a lot - " Lulu smiled. Milo often worked long hours and sometimes she got busy with school. There were days that she barely got to see him or didn't get to see him at all. Now that she'd moved out of the mansion, she spent most of her time at his place. Sometimes he was there, sometimes he wasn't. But she enjoyed all those little moments of just them being together even if it was for a few minutes while one of them was coming or going. "I liked that part."

"Me too," Milo said. He liked having Lulu at his place. They didn't even need to do anything, he just liked knowing that she was there. He liked that she felt safe and at ease with him, in his home. "If you want - " Milo paused, not sure if he should continue or quit while he's ahead.

"If I want what?" Lulu asked. Milo had definitely become more confident in expressing himself the longer they dated, but there were times when he held back because he wasn't sure how she'd react.

Milo took a deep breath, "If you want - I'd like you to move in with me," Milo said. "You don't have to answer right away. Think about it and we can talk about it - "

Lulu shook her head, "I don't need to think about it," Lulu said. "I want to move in with you."

"Yeah?" Milo asked. "You sure about that?" He stood up and pulled Lulu to her feet.

Lulu smiled, "Yes," Lulu said and wrapped her arms around Milo's neck. "I love you." Lulu kissed Milo then pulled back. "I love being with you."

"Same here," Milo whispered and kissed Lulu again. "I love you, Lesley Lu Spencer."

"Wanna show me how much?" Lulu asked.

"Later," Milo said. "I - I just want to make sure that you're moving in with me, because you want to and not to hide from your dad."

"I am," Lulu whispered. "I can't hide from him forever, I know that." Lulu pulled back from Milo and sat down on the couch again and motioned for him to sit next to her. "He asked me today if me knowing - if it changed anything and I told him yes, I told him it changed how I felt about him. And - instead of arguing with me, he told me that I didn't have to understand it but I had to accept it." Lulu shook her head, "He's right. I don't think I can ever understand it. What happened, it doesn't make sense to me on so many levels. And I think - " Lulu's voice trailed off and she started playing with the charms on her bracelet. She'd gotten this bracelet on her seventh birthday, her first real piece of adult jewelry. Every year her mom had given her a new charm on her birthday and once her mom went to the sanitarium, her grandma had given her one.

"You think what?" Milo gently prompted.

"I think I'm starting to see why no one told me," Lulu quietly said. It's not like anyone ever had an opportunity to tell her. She wasn't sure how old someone should be when they find something out like this. And her mom, her mom wasn't around and when she came back last fall, it probably didn't even occur for anyone to tell her. "You know, when I started looking into Rick Webber's death - Sonny, he told me to be careful. That I might find out something that could destroy my dad. That my dad felt responsible for my mom's condition, that he was the one who pushed her to find out the truth of what happened in the attic all those years ago. And if he found out that my mom didn't kill Rick Webber, that her condition was for nothing - that it'd kill him."

"But you stopped," Milo said. "We don't know if Scott Baldwin killed Rick Webber or if it really was your mom." It had been really hard for Lulu to stop trying to prove her mom's innocence. But she stopped because she didn't want to lose both of her parents.

"But what would I have done?" Lulu asked. "What if I had found out that Scott Baldwin or someone else killed Rick Webber? Would I have come forward or kept quiet?"

"I don't know," Milo said. "You would've had to decide what was more important. If it was more important to clear your mom's name, even though it wouldn't bring her back but it could potentially destroy your dad. Or if it was more important to keep quiet and protect - " Milo paused, seeing the similarities in the two situations.

"Protect him from the truth," Lulu whispered. "I think - I think I know why no one told me. But just because I get that, it doesn't mean I don't think I deserved to know - because I did."

"I know," Milo said. He couldn't imagine keeping something like that from someone he loved.

Lulu rested her head on Milo's shoulder and smiled slightly when he pulled her closer, "You know - you know that day when you first asked me out," Lulu began.

"Yeah," Milo said. "You were wearing an aqua sweater."

"You remember what I was wearing?" Lulu asked.

"Yeah," Milo said.

Lulu smiled, Milo was the most incredible man on the face of the earth and she was beyond lucky to have him in her life. "Well, that day you asked me out - the same day I was wearing an aqua sweater, I bet you didn't know you weren't going to get a girlfriend with a perpetual black cloud over her head," Lulu said.

"Don't say that," Milo said. "You've had a rough time of things. You're getting through it."

"Because of you," Lulu said, lifting her head so she could look at Milo. She didn't know how she would've gotten through the past month without Milo. He gave her space when she needed it, he listened when she wanted to talk, he made her feel normal - most importantly, he didn't tell her it was going to be okay. "You're my lifesaver, you keep me from drowning."

Milo brought his hand to Lulu's face and brushed his lips over his, "You're strong Lulu, you don't need me - " Lulu started to protest and Milo silenced her with a kiss. "But I'm glad that you think you do. Because I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Well, hopefully - you're not going to find out because I plan on sticking around for a long time," Lulu promised. She suddenly stood up and impatiently pulled Milo to his feet.

"What?" Milo asked and slid his arms around Lulu's waist. "Do you want to go out or stay in?"

"Stay in," Lulu whispered and kissed Milo. "I want you all to myself." Lulu quickly kissed Milo then pulled away. "So I'm going to take a shower and change, and order room service and we can have dinner - just the two of us."

Milo pulled Lulu back to him, "I like the sound of that," Milo said and kissed Lulu. "You okay? With everything?"

Lulu nodded, "As okay as I'm going to be," Lulu said.

"You'll tell me if it's not?" Milo asked.

"Yes," Lulu said. "You worry too much."

"I can't help worrying about you," Milo said.

"Because I'm such a screw up," Lulu said.

"You're not," Milo insisted.

"You're just saying that - "

"Because I love you," Milo said. "I do. But you're strong, brave, courageous. You don't give up. You're smart, funny and Lulu - " Milo paused and gently ran the back of his hand along Lulu's face. "When you smile at me, you light up the room. You're so beautiful, sometimes I wonder how a girl like you could love a guy like me."

"Hey," Lulu protested and quickly kissed Milo. "If I don't get to feel sorry for myself, you don't get to either. I'm still amazed that you were single when we started dating, but thankfully you were."

"I'm not anymore," Milo said.

"I know," Lulu said and kissed Milo.

"So about that shower?" Milo asked.

Lulu laughed, "What about it?," Lulu asked.

"How bout you skip it?" Milo asked and started leading Lulu to the bedroom.

"Sounds good to me," Lulu whispered. So maybe her parents wasn't as perfect as she thought they were. Maybe perfection didn't really exist. But being with Milo, that was as close as she'd ever come to perfection and there was no way she was going to give that up.

THE END


End file.
